Section

History, Art, & Culture

Essays and analysis on Iranian history, art, architecture, literature, heritage, intellectual life, and cultural memory.

The Shah and Queen Farah Pahlavi visit the Tehran Research Reactor at its inauguration in 1967, during Iran’s period of rapid industrial and scientific development. Photo: Manoto
Essay

The Iran My Great-Grandfather Built

An old company book leads Noor Afshar to reconsider the Iran her great-grandfather helped build. Tracing GAMMA’s history across the 1979 Revolution, she reflects on industrial achievement, family memory, and what survives political rupture.

Noor Afshar